Manchester City Face Concerns Over Injuries To Jeremy Doku And Matheus Nunes Ahead Of Their Clash With Liverpool
Manchester City Face Concerns Over Injuries To Jeremy Doku And Matheus Nunes Ahead Of Their Clash With Liverpool
Manchester City have encountered two potential injury setbacks ahead of their Premier League encounter with Liverpool on Sunday, following their recent match against Copenhagen. Pep Guardiola’s team comfortably dispatched the Danish champions in their Champions League last 16 fixture, securing a 3-1 victory over Jacob Neestrup’s side and a 6-2 aggregate win.
The scoring commenced with Manuel Akanji, followed by an own goal from Julian Alvarez, who inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net. Despite conceding one goal to Mohamed Elyounoussi, Manchester City maintained control, with Erling Haaland adding another goal just before halftime, ensuring their safe passage to the quarter-finals.
Guardiola opted for seven alterations from the team that triumphed over Manchester United in the derby last weekend, with the tie heavily in their favor after the initial victory. However, one of these changes was enforced due to an injury to Jeremy Doku, who was ruled out of the match shortly before kickoff.
“Due to some muscular issues, we opted not to take the risk,” Guardiola disclosed before the match, casting doubt on his fitness for the upcoming trip to Anfield.
During the match, there was an additional injury concern for City as Matheus Nunes was compelled to leave the field with a gruesome finger injury in the second half.
In a seemingly innocuous off-the-ball incident, Nunes suddenly displayed signs of extreme distress, urgently requesting assistance from the medical staff.
A brief close-up of the incident revealed that Nunes had suffered a serious injury to his finger, with signs of severe dislocation.
The City physiotherapists promptly attended to him, successfully resetting his finger and swiftly bandaging his hand. However, the Portuguese midfielder still appeared to be in discomfort following the conclusion of the match, and may potentially face some time on the sidelines.
Surprise starts were handed to Rodri and Haaland, raising eyebrows further when Haaland remained on the pitch for 88 minutes, yet both emerged from the match unscathed.
Rodri was substituted at halftime with Manchester City comfortably leading by four goals on aggregate. Guardiola explained post-match that he kept Haaland on to help him regain rhythm following his recent injury layoff.
With Manchester City in a comfortable position, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Nathan Ake, and Bernardo Silva were all unused substitutes, indicating their readiness for the upcoming match at Anfield.
Alvarez received a rare start after three consecutive substitute appearances, contributing a goal and assist. However, he still faces competition for a regular place in the team.
Meanwhile, Jack Grealish remains sidelined after being forced off in the first half of their FA Cup victory over Luton Town last midweek.
